Changes
by MountainSounds
Summary: Logan tries to fit in the new present and catch up on those fifty years he had missed, and he needs help from his friends and colleagues to fully understand this new changed world. Will be J/L.


He's only been back since a few days. Or perhaps being back isn't the right wording. He's always been here, physically. He spent most of his time trying to catch up on this new and most definitely better present, sometimes he felt like he was one of the students, learning history all over again. But he not only needed to get to know how the past fifty years differed from what he lived through, but there were many fresh faces at the school, too, at least they were fresh to him, and these people looked strangely at him when he didn't know their names or didn't say hello right away. He and the professor haven't decided yet if they should brief the students and their colleagues in on the reason behind his odd behavior. He thought it was inevitable though, sooner or later, he'll tell them about the adventure he had been through to save mutants and mankind.

Sometimes it was all too much for him to take in, sometimes he needed a break from all the new information flooding his mind, every minute of every day. "Some things never change…" he thought to himself after checking the fridge for some beer. Empty handed, he wandered around the mansion, the halls weren't so different from what he remembered, except for some futuristic equipment and a few more rooms, the home of the X-Men was the same.

It was late, he hasn't been sleeping much since he arrived. The number of his nightmares increased because of the war. These nights he would go out for fresh air and sit by the pool, he felt drawn to the water despite his last memory from the past being drowning. He found it calming how the moon and stars reflected on the surface, the woods around the mansion were quiet except for the occasional howling and hooting. He kicked off his boots and dipped his feet into the pool, the sudden sensation of cold water meeting his skin made him feel alive. These nights, he thought about how he was going to tell the others. He was sure they would be skeptic, but he wanted to clear things up. If he was a few years younger, he probably wouldn't care about what they thought, but after going through hell with them, for them, and losing most of them changed things. He also wanted to know how this Wolverine was doing, the one whose mind he had overwritten a few days ago, and he could only ask his fellow X-Men about that.

Things indeed were changed, people he believed dead were alive and well, and for one in particular he couldn't have been more grateful. He still wasn't over the fact that Jean was back, he would bump into her in the halls, see her at breakfast and during team meetings, and he couldn't help himself, he stared at her every single time she was near. This didn't go unnoticed by her, she would blush and look away. Scott, on the other hand held his gaze when he caught him staring at his partner. Scott thought he was used to his flirtatious behavior by now, but lately Logan's antics around Jean changed, and he noticed it. He wouldn't hit on her, he wouldn't flirt openly with her, he would just stare, as if he couldn't believe she was real.

And more or less that was the truth. Logan would have loved to touch her, just to make sure she was physically there, but after all those long years missing and mourning her, simply taking in her sight and scent was enough. He never got over her, it was like she was a magnet, and his adamantium coated bones gravitated towards her. The first day, he avoided her after that awkward meeting in the professor's office, he wasn't in the mood of explaining himself. The second day, he still tried to keep distance, but appreciated every moment when their paths crossed. The third day, he involuntary followed her around, not directly, he didn't want to be conspicuous, but he needed to feel her presence. But he still hasn't had a word with her. She was the one he wanted to tell everything first.

His nostrils twitched when he sniffed a familiar scent in the air. It was sweet, refreshing and peculiar, he could smell it from miles away. Her. Soon, he heard her steps too, and heard the door creaking as she stepped out of the mansion. He knew she noticed him when the sound of her feet touching the ground went quiet. She hesitated, she wasn't sure if she should talk to him, or even if he wanted to talk to her. She knew something was different lately, she could sense it as well as see it, he tried hard to act normal, but she could see through him easily. She wanted to wait for him to tell her, if he wanted to.

"Hey, Logan!" hearing her voice made him smile as he turned his head to face her.

"Hey… Jean. What are you doin' here at this time?" he didn't really care though, he was excited to see her, and thought that maybe this could be the right time to share his story with her.

"I could ask you the same thing…" she smiled back, and moved towards him when he patted the place on his right side. She sat down beside him by the pool, hugging her knees, she wasn't there for swimming. "I couldn't sleep." she finished. A small chuckle left his lips.

"Sounds familiar," he replied and looked away. He contemplated his options for a few moments, but he realized he will not have a chance to be completely alone with her during the day. "Listen, there's something I want to tell you." she glanced at him with curious green eyes but nodded, letting him know she was listening. He cracked a slight smile, he wasn't even sure how to begin, should he tell her that he's not the guy that was here for God knows how many years, he wasn't the history teacher, he wasn't the one who didn't have to kill her. "Remember that day when I acted weird in the professor's office? When you and Scott were there?"

"Yes, I had to admit, you confused me there." She said, she really was confused that day, it seemed as if Logan didn't even notice Scott next to her, or just didn't care.

"It was 'cause… I came from another timeline," and then he heard her laughing, she didn't mean to and she tried to silence herself but it erupted from her before she could've stopped it. "Don't laugh, Red, I'm bein' serious here." Her giggles died down when she saw the stern look on his face. "When I woke up that morning, that's when I returned from the past-"

"Okay, Logan, wait a second, you're saying you're from another timeline, and also from the past. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds, right?" She tapped on his shoulder and smirked again.

"No, well, yes. But in the timeline, where I came from, I went back to the past to change the future to this," he gestured around them with his hands and continued, he really needed to talk about this with someone and he needed her to believe it first. "Where I came from, things were bad, real bad. Some guy made some robots who were killing mutants, the few of us who were still alive after many years of terror had to hide from them for a long a time. They slaughtered us. And not just us, but humans who helped us, and humans who would have mutant children. Kitty sent me back to the '70s to prevent this, and as you can see, it happened."

"I would say I understand, but I really don't." she sighed, she believed him, really, but she needed to hear everything in order to fully understand what he was saying.

"When I went back to the past, I had to stop Mystique so she wouldn't kill Trask, the guy who invented the Sentinels. In my timeline, it all started with that, humans were afraid of us and wanted to exterminate us since that day. I got the professor, I got Magneto and Hank. We managed to stop her but then Magneto turned on us, tried to kill me and basically the whole government, and I assume he fled. The last thing I remember from that time is that I ended up in water with pipes in body and I drowned, and then I woke up here."

"Okay, let's say that I get the story, but I don't get how Kitty sent you back, I mean, why are you aware that all of this happened?"

"She only sent my mind back, she told me I would be the only one rememberin' the things we did in the past, and things would only change when I woke up. Those who were present when I went back, Kitty, Bobby they don't remember. When we changed the events, I woke up here, my current mind has somehow overwritten my mind in this timeline. I don't understand how it works, I'm not scientist, nor a history teacher for the matter, and I remember the last fifty years different from how it actually was in this timeline." He wished he could explain things better, but he himself couldn't understand it the way he wanted to. He noticed that he fully captured her attention, she was watching him and wanted to know every little detail he could give, although he would have to talk for days to tell her the whole story. He wouldn't mind though, that would mean she would be beside him. For days he thought about what would've happened if she didn't get together with Scott in this timeline, he felt selfish, her being alive was already a big change and a gift, he just wanted another little one. He went on and told her how he remembered the past five decades, how he originally got to the school, how they met, the missions they went on, Liberty Island, but he wasn't sure telling her about Alcatraz and Scott's fate was the right thing to do.

The first lights of the sun lit the trees in the distance as she bombarded him with questions. She asked about the others, their friends and their enemies, the school. But mostly she was fascinated by the fact that humans, the government and the whole world could let the suffering happen, that they massacred thousands of mutants and humans so easily and didn't even give them a chance to prove that not all of them are bad and evil.

"This sounds crazy, amazing and devastating at the same time," she concluded and yawned. "So let me ask one more question, was I there when you were sent back?"

"No, I killed you long before that."


End file.
